Plant Fiber Composite Bottle Shell for Lightweight Packaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional glass bottles for beverages and cosmetic products are heavy, mechanically weak, and energy-intensive to produce, resulting in an unfavorable carbon footprint.
Innovation Solution
A bottle design featuring a rigid external shell made from a cylindrical braid of plant fibers embedded in a thermoplastic resin matrix, combined with an internal container of approved food-contact material, such as PET, to create a lightweight and mechanically strong structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If glass bottles are used for packaging beverages and cosmetic products, then the bottles provide good chemical resistance and sealing properties, but they are heavy, mechanically weak, and energy-intensive to produce resulting in an unfavorable carbon footprint
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining plant fibers (cylindrical braid) with thermoplastic resin to create a rigid shell that is both lightweight and mechanically strong. This composite structure replaces traditional glass while maintaining structural integrity and reducing weight significantly.
Solution Approach 2:
The bottle is segmented into distinct functional components: an internal container for product contact, a cap for sealing, and an external rigid shell for structural support. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, with the shell providing strength without excessive weight.
2Reliability
If glass bottles are used for packaging beverages and cosmetic products, then the bottles provide good chemical resistance and sealing properties, but they are mechanically weak and energy-intensive to produce resulting in an unfavorable carbon footprint
Solution Approach 1:
The composite of plant fibers embedded in thermoplastic resin creates a material that is both mechanically strong and chemically resistant. The fiber reinforcement provides tensile strength while the resin matrix provides chemical resistance, together creating a shell that outperforms glass in mechanical strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The cylindrical braid of plant fibers is positioned strategically within the shell structure to provide local reinforcement where mechanical strength is most needed, while maintaining overall chemical resistance through the thermoplastic resin coating.
3Reliability
If glass bottles are used for packaging beverages and cosmetic products, then the bottles provide good chemical resistance and sealing properties, but their production demands much energy resulting in an unfavorable carbon footprint
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the material parameters from glass to plant fiber-based composites, which require significantly less energy to produce. The thermoplastic resin can be processed at lower temperatures compared to glass manufacturing, reducing production energy consumption and carbon footprint.
Solution Approach 2:
The plant fiber-based shell is designed to be more environmentally friendly and potentially biodegradable, replacing energy-intensive glass with a material that has lower production energy requirements and reduced environmental impact throughout its lifecycle.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution results in a lightweight, mechanically robust bottle with a reduced carbon footprint, as the plant fiber braid and thermoplastic resin matrix provide structural integrity while minimizing material weight and environmental impact.
Implementation Method 1
the impregnation matrix is tight-fitted to the external face of this braid, then the assembly thus formed is inserted into a mould to obtain the body of the shell. The equipped mould is then heated, and the inflatable bladder is put under pressure so that the thermoplastic resin forming the matrix impregnates the vegetable fibre braid.
Implementation Method 2
an impregnation matrix made of a thermoplastic resin whose melting temperature is less than or equal to 190° C.
Implementation Method 3
The shell comprises a cylindrical braid of plant fibres with a burning temperature above 140° C., having a uniform appearance over the entire body of the shell and neck and covering at least 90% of their surface area. This cylindrical braid, preferably obtained by braiding a fibre on a mandrel, is inserted in an impregnation matrix made of a thermoplastic resin
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a bottle having: firstly a rigid external shell, which has a shell body continued by a neck provided with a neck opening, and is equipped with a cap that is fitted on the neck opening and has a threaded internal annular part inside this neck opening, this shell being made of a cylindrical braid of vegetable fibres having a uniform appearance over the entire body of the shell and of the neck, said braid covering at least 90% of the surface thereof and being inserted into an impregnation matrix made of a thermoplastic resin, and secondly an internal container intended to come into contact with the beverage, said internal container being fastened to the internal annular part of the cap and being made of a thermoplastic material.